Kite Kits

The sky is the limit

Kites are much more than a toy. Once used for military purposes, delivering messages and scientific research, kites have secured a new niche in the classroom. 

Our Kite Kits

Come with everything you need to assemble and fly a kite - all you need to supply are the materials for decoration.

Can be assembled, decorated and ready for flight in just a few hours.

Are affordable and suitable for all ages and abilities.

Fly even in low wind - guaranteed!

Have been used in over 11,000 schools by a million flyers, so we know they work

For more ideas about how to use our Kite Kits, visit these pages:

Schools & Daycares

K -12 Classes

Schools & Daycares

Out of School

Schools & Daycares

Camp & Youth Organizations

Events & Festivals

Fundraisers

Events & Festivals

Events & Festivals

Events & Festivals

Resources

Events & Festivals

Inspiration (Our Blog)

 

With over 30 years of teaching experience, and ten years in event planning and fundraising, we are here to help you – whether it’s in designing a Unit of Inquiry, or event planning and fundraising from concept to execution.  Just contact us!

Assembling your Kite Kits

Putting your Kite Kit together is easy:

We’ve put a lot of thought and experience into making these kits the best available for learning activities. Thanks to our time-tested kite design, you can rest assured that everyone will successfully decorate, assemble and launch their kite with ease. With over a million kites flown we know that our Kite Kits will bring joy to everyone who uses them.
Kite Kit Contents

Each Kite Kit includes:

• a pre-cut kite sail

• two 2-foot-long dowels

• two tiny dowels

• a sheet of six pieces of tape

• a pre-measured bridle string (1-1/2 times the width of the kite)

• a plastic handle with 80 to 100 feet of cotton line

 Your will also need:

• a single hole punch or a nail

• scissors

• a roll of hockey tape to replace stickers (optional)

**Remember – you order will not arrive sorted into individual Kite Kits.**

Steps for decoration and assembly

Step 1 – DECORATE THE kITE

Any kind of felt tip markers or acrylic paint (diluted until creamy but not drippy) works best.

Note: Crayons can be used (Stockmar beeswax crayons produce the brightest colours), but only after the kite is assembled, as the tape will not stick to wax on the kite sail.

Decorate your kite right-side-up, with the ID stamp on the bottom. It does not matter which side you colour.

Make your design big, bold and bright, so it’s easy to see in the sky!

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label
coloured kite

Step 2 – INSERT AND SECURE THE DOWELS

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

2a

Lay the sail flat so the bottom is closest to you. Insert each dowel through the holes in the sale so that the dowel runs from the top edge to the botttom edge, the middle of the dowel is covered, and the ends are exposed on the front of the sail.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

2B

Lift the corner of the sail where the dowel lies. Slide tape underneath with the sticky side up, so that one half of the piece of tape sticks up onto the back and the other half extends off the edge.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

2C

Be sure the dowel end meets the edge of the sail, and hold it down to keep it from slippng while you fold the extended tape up on to the front of the kite so it forms a pocket over the dowel end. Firmly rub down the entire surface of the pocket.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

2D

Repeat the process for the end of each dowel.

Step 3 – REINFORCE THE BRIDLE

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

3A

Lay a tiny dowel across the centre of a piece of tape.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

3B

Slide the tape, sticky-side up, under one of the short outside edges of the sail until the dowel sits right alongside the edge.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

3C

Fold the extended tape onto the front of sail, not moving the dowel.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

3D

Punch a hole through the tape, right beside each tiny dowel.

kite with tails

Step 4 – Add the Bridle String and Handle

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

4A

Attach one end of the pre-measured bridle string (84″ or 214cm) to the hole you punched. Tie a strong knot around the tiny dowel. Tug on the knot to be sure it’s tight. Repeat with the other end of the string on the other side.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

4B

Fold the kite in half, pinching the reinforcements together in one hand. With the other hand, pinch string and slide out to the exact centre. Hold the centre and tie an overhand knot about an inch from the centre, forming a small loop.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

4C

Do the same thing on your kite handle, but make a loop big enough for the handle for fit through.

Pull the loop of your kite handle through the bridle loop. Now you are holding the kite-line loop in one hand, and the handle in the other. The bridle is just hanging down off the kite line. Pull the kite handle through its own loop. Pull until it’s tight.

place the tiny dowel in the middle of the label

FLY YOUR KITE!

Make sure you read Kite Safety, How to Launch, Fly and Land before you start.

You can dress up your kite with streamers. Make sure to attach equal lengths at both corners or an entire tail at the exact centre of the kite’s lower edge.

Tails can impede the kite’s flight, so be prepared to remove the tails if your kite is trying too hard to lift them.

Visit our Resources page
to download PDF copies of:

  • Kite Safety
  • Launch, Fly & Land Your Kite
  • Tips for Successful Flight
  • Common Kiting Problems
  • Parts of a Kite
  • Links to Learning Standards (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math; Social Studies/History; English Language Arts; Art)
  • Project Ideas  for Science & Technology; Social Studies & History; the Arts

lesson plans… and more…

Tips for successful flight

Stand in one place, and parallel to other flyers, to fly your kite. No running should be required. Always be aware of your surroundings.

Let the kite line out slowly, and use release and pull motions or quick pumping to help it rise.

Let out more line or step towards the kite in a sudden gust of wind.

Wind the line on the handle to land your kite. NEVER TOUCH THE LINE it is sharp. In strong wind you can walk towards your kites to land it (make sure there isn’t anyone below the kite!).

If your kite gets tangled with another, walk quickly towards them, with the kite still in the air. Hold your lines close together. The tangle should “move down” so that you can unwrap them. Be patient!

Parts of a (diamond) kite

Parts of a kite

Kite Sails

Kite sails must be light and strong. Tyvek, Mylar and Rip-stop nylon are ideal materials. Kites sails come in different shapes and sizes including diamond, delta, and box shapes. Our kite kits are a sled design.

Spine

The spine must be strong, light, and straight. Maple and Birch spars are excellent. Many one line kites have fibre glass or carbon spars. Not all kites have spines, and some have more than one.

Cross Spar

The cross spar is made of the same materials and is the same diameter as the spine. Not all kites have a cross spar. Our sled design and two parallel spines.

Bridle

The bridle must be at least twice the length of the kite. A kite with a short bridle will not fly well, if at all. Kites use different kinds of bridling: (1) single point, (2) two-point, (3) three-point and (4) multi-point bridling.

The larger the kite the greater the need for multi-point bridling, because strong winds will bend or break kite spines and cross spars if they lack support between anchor points on the spars.

Kite Tails

Kite tails are necessary only in very strong winds or with flat kites. Kite tails should be light. Kite tails work on friction in the air, not on weight. You can add tails to our Kite Kits, but they are not necessary.

Line

The line. An excellent kite will not fly well with a poor kite line. Cotton and twisted nylon lines are excellent for single line kites. The thicker the line, the greater the wind resistance, which is the primary hindrance in raising the kite and releasing it to the end of a kite spool. An average kite flies well up to 150 meters (for kids) or 500 ft (for adults). Keep tension on cotton and twisted kite lines at all times. A slack line will allow the kite line to twist, and it will end up in knots that are difficult to untangle. Raise the kite on a tight line, and reel it home on a tight line.

* You can use a fishing line swivel to fasten the kite line to the kite bridle.

You will find all this and more in the Kites in the Classroom Guidebook that comes with each order. 

Kites in History

Here is a little ancient kite story, told in China over the ages from generation to generation. In the Sung Dynasty, AD. 960 to AD. 1126, a peasant was told by a wise man that calamity would hit his family on the ninth day of the ninth month. To escape this calamity he was told to hike up into the mountain and fly a kite. He returned at night to find that all his cattle had been killed, but he and his family were still alive. Over time, a legend was born that a whole year’s worth of bad luck could be avoided by flying a kite on the ninth day of the ninth month. Many people still celebrate with kites to this day!

Follow for simple strategies you can use today to motivate, engage and inspire your students.

[The kites] were a huge success. All the kids and teachers loved the kite experience. What a sight to see over 100 kites in the air and all those smiles!

Mindi Morton

Parent Teacher Club President, Grizzly Hill, CA

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